Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1887-06-20
Death On The Battlefield.

NcatA on the uattle-UeiO J. NlNettuN ANN
the manner OF the death depends on the
wound and on the man. whether he j.
cowardly or brave, whether his vitality
i large or small, whether he j. man
ofactive imagination or is dun OF intel
lect, whether he Is Of nervous or lym-
phatic temperament On the second day
of the battle of the Wilderness. when
fought a. an infantry soldier saw
more men Killed and wounded than I did
before or after in the same time. I knew
but few Of the men in the regiment in
whose ranks l stood. but / learned the
christian names of some Of them. The
man who stood next to me on my right
was called VIII. He was cool. brave
and intelligent. In the morning, when
/ the 2d Corps was advancing aud driv-
I ing HHrs soldiers slowly back. l was
hurried. ire uoUlcru u, aua e,vautcu
my nerves by saving kindly
Don't fire so fast This fight will
/ last all day. Don't hurry. Cover your
man before you pull your trigger. Take
it easy. my boy. take IL easy. and your
/ cartridges will lsst longer"
This man fought effectively. During
the day had learned to look up 10 this
/ excellent soldier, and lean on him. To-
ward evening as we were being slowly
/ driven back 10 the Brock road by Long
4 streets men, We made a stand | was
4 behind tree firing with my rife barrel
resting on the stub of limb. viii was
standing by my side, but in the open.
1 He gave groan, doubled up, and drop
4 ped on the ground at my feet. He looked
| up at me. His face was pale. lie gasped
/ for breath few times, and then said,
/ family: THAT ends me. l am shot
/ through the bowels said Crawl
to the rear We are not far from the en-
trenchments along the Brock road"
I saw him sit up, and indisunctly saw
him reach for his rife, which had fallen
! from his hands a. he fell. Again spoke
! to him to 90 to the rear He lookei at
me and said impatiently: II tell you
that / am as good as dead. There j. no
use in fooling with me. shall stay
here" Then he pitched forward, dead,
shot again, and through the head. We
fell back before Longstreet's soldiers
and left Will lying in a windrow Of dead
men.
After Longstreet's soldiers had driven
the 2d Corps into their entrenchments
along the Brock road, battle-exhausted
infantryman stood behind "A large oak
tree. His back rested against il. lie
was very tired. and held his rife loosely
in his hand. The confederates were di-
rectly in our front. This soldier was
apparently in perfect safety. A solid
shot from Confederate gun struck the
oak tree squarely about four feet from
the ground, but it did not have sufficient
force to tear through the tough wood.
The soldier fell dead. There was not
a scratch on him. He was killed by con-
cussion.
'-g the first days nighttime in the
! Wilderness, 1 sa- youth Of about
twenty years skip and yell stung by
| bullet through the thigh. He turned 10
| limp to the rear. After he had gone
few steps he stopped, then be kicked out
/ his leg once or twice TO see IL IL would
work Then he tore the clothing away
| from bis leg so a. TO see the wound.
He looked at it attentively for an instant,
then kicked out his leg again, then turned
| and took his place in the ranks, and resum-
/ ed firing. There was considerable disorder
in the line, and the soldiers moved 20
and fro, now few feet TO the left, now
a few feet TO the right. One OF these
movements brought me directly behind
| this wounded soldier. ! could see plain
ly from that position, and he pushed
| into the gaping line and began firing.
/ In a minute or two the wounded soldier
dropped his rife, and clasping his left
arm, exclaimed
Il am hit again.
He sat down behind the battle ranks
and tore of the sleeve Of his shirt. The
wound was very slight, not much more
/ than skin deep. He tied his handkerchief
around it, picked up his rife, and took
position alongside Of me. said
You are lighting in bad luck to-day.
/ You had better get away from here
He turned his head 70 answer me. His
/ head jerked, be staggered, then fell, then
] EEzdAuE1 uAH AfEh- a AlAt ABNAhAtN ~
/ blood and teeth and bone and bite of
tongue burst oDt Of bis mouth. He bad
been shot through the jaws; the lower
/ one was broken and hung down. ! look
/ ed directly into his open mouth, which
/ was ragged and tongueless. He cast biz
rife furiousIy on the ground and staeger-
| ed of.
The next day, just before LOngstreet's
soldiers made their first charge on the 20
| corps, heard the peculiar cry strick-
I en- man utters a. the bullet tears through
/ his flesh. / turned my head a. ! loaded
nv rife 70 see who was hit I saw a
bearded Irishman pull up his shirt lie
had been wounded 10 the left side just be-
/ low the floating ribs. His face was gray
with fear. The wound looked o. though
1 il was mortal He looked at Il for an in-
slant, and then pOked Il gently with BE
index finger He flushed redly, and smi-
ed with satisfaction. lie tucked BIZ
shirt into his Trousers, and was lighting
ia the ranks again before had capped
nv rife The play of the lrshman's face
was 80 expressive his emotions changed
% quickly, that ] could not keep from
laughing.
Near spOttsyiTania saw, ~ ny bat
terry was moving into action, q group -
wounded men lying in The shade ca-t by
some large oak trees. They silently
looked At a. a. we marched past them.
Oue wounded mao, blonde giant ~
about forty. was smoking brisr-soOd
pipe. He had firm grip On The pipe
step. I asked him what b. Wa doing
Having ny lat smoke, yOung feilOs,
he rrplied.
His eauntless blue eyes met mine. and
b. 5ravely tried ~ smile. -as that le
Wa~ dying fast.
The Greatest Debt
TO nobody on earth - due 30 great
debt ~ - mother. He Wa q true phIlpa-
0pher v b. sald . nnnfhsrs lgfe Has fle